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WIN MADZ ET AL TICKETS FOR TOMORROW!

FLASH GIVEAWAY!!!

Win TWO tickets for tomorrow’s Madz et al concert at Philamlife Theater, 5PM!

Answer this: What’s the name of my children’s choir who will perform tomorrow?

Email ur name and answer and cellphone number to touringkitty@gmail.com

First one to email wins. Deadline is tomorrow, 6am. i’ll text the winner by 7am tomorrow.

We’ll give tickets tomorrow at the front of house of philamlife auditorium under your name.

Email now!

Contest exemptions: my choir members and their families 🙂

For those who haven’t gotten tickets, you can buy from us in a special deal of Buy 3, Take 1 free! Tickets are P400 each.

Quiet 29th

Last Monday the 24th, I quietly celebrated my 29th. Woke up and doing a self-check on the mirror–I’m 29?! A year befor the big 3-0 and I told my husband to throw party for me. Yeah, I want a party to celebrate this milestone in my life.

How I celebrated the countdown to 30?

During the day, I heard Mass with sleeping Aria in the nearby mall. I let the helper go around the mall since we have different religions (not an issue to us, we’ve been very understanding especially with her schedule of church services). We had lunch and did some grocery before heading home to rest. I then went to my high school to teach the choir and drum and lyre groups for their Founding Anniversary.

We planned a family dinner at wherelse, Friday’s! We got coupons and doscount card during Aria’s birthday and we want to maximize the discounts. Plus, I want to eat their kid’s pizza again!

Then my husband bought the yummiest, richest chocolate cake, and has a dedication written. So sweet of him!

There you go. Uneventful, really, but happy to have spent it with the people I love.

~ Touringkitty

A Mother’s Prayer

Dear Lord,

We acknowledge that You are our mighty God. The earth is indeed filled with Your goodness, and words aren’t enough to express our gratefulness unto You.

I come to You as a mother. And I am now aware that a mother’s love is boundless, timeless, and selfless.

I thank You for giving me Mama Mary, Your own mother. Her genuine love for You is inspiring. She followed Your ways, not hers. She gave her trust to You, completely and without question.

I thank You for giving my own Mommy Luz. She is the wind beneath my wings. Her support and care to me and my sister, even extending it to my own family, is admirable. We may argue about a lot of things but the love is there. I pray that You bless her and grant her with a long, happy life. May we make more time with her as her children and always remember how it is to be young, helpless, and dependent of our mother. And may we replicate exactly, or even more, how much of a mother she is to us.

I thank You for the blessing of making me a mother of my own. It is such a wonderful thing and I only realized it until I became one. Please turn my envy into admiration, procrastination into productivity, whining into winning, and mommy pride into more mommy pride! I am such a stage mother this early in the game. I am confident that my daughter will be the person she ought to be, even though she’s makulit, malikot, and maingay.

I thank You and Our Lady of La Leche for allowing me to breastfeed. It’s the most important gift I have given my daughter for the past two years. And I was able to share some milk with babies we don’t know, even if it’s only how many bags. That is in itself a testament that mothers CAN produce enough, and in some cases, MORE than ENOUGH breastmilk. This coupled with sacrifice, dedication, and support.

I pray for my husband. He’s my hero in every sense of the word. May he be more patient to me and our daughter. Grant him good health always.

Thank You for giving us a loving community of family and friends, near and far, who support our family in more ways than one. Thank You for the provisions of a stable job for us both (and jobs that we love doing), security in our small condo unit we call Schatzihaus, the new helper, healthyummy foods, extra gadgets, more than enough budget for expenses. Thank You for those little treats!

We shall continue to give honor and praise to You, dearest Lord. Amen.

Happy Second Birthday, Ariadne!

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Lola Mila loves you!

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Lolo Frankie loves you!

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Nonna loves you!

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Tita playmate loves you!

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Mommy and Daddy love you!

To the charming, smart, little girl who drives our everyday life crazy but fun, who’s addicted to Hello Kiity, Elmo, and iPad Photobooth, happy birthday!

We pray for your good health, safety, and happiness as you journey through life. Mommy and Daddy are here for you, always and in all ways.

Gott segne dich, mein Schatz!

Mommy and Daddy 🙂

Thank you, Mom!

Thanks to TVCs, this has been my daughter’s current favorite.

Thank you, Mom!

She then rushes towards me and kisses and hugs me, saying the very same lines:

Thank you, Mom, for believing in me.

And I wish to say the same to my own mother.

Her beauty is timeless!

I have to thank her so very much for being there for my family every time we needed someone to lean on. She and my sister, actually. They have been very supportive of us and whatever we’ve been doing, and we trust them to take care of our little one when my husband and I can’t. Thank God for mothers!

Happy Birthday, Mommy!

;

;

~ Touringkitty

Ate Rina at the CCP

Young soprano Katrina Saporsantos.        (Photo credit from artist’s profile)

 

I first knew Ate Rina in college. As a voice freshman, and a clueless one at that, I look up to the soprano voice majors at that time. She was a diligent one, that’s why we look up to her. Her being friendly also endeared her to many. She used to sing with the Ateneo College Glee Club before she focused on being a solo performer.

Fast forward to today, she has blossomed into one of the good young Filipino sopranos. She’s been active in performing ever since college, and was fortunate to study abroad to home to further hone her craft.

She has performed before at the CCP but not in a solo engagement. She returns to the CCP stage next Wednesday, August 29, 7:30PM at the Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino for her Recital Debut. Assisting her on the piano is one of the best accompanist, my piano teacher in college and a Principal Sponsor for our wedding, Augusto Espino.

Full Press Release is on this site: http://culturalcenter.gov.ph/page.php?page_id=596

She will also give a Voice Masterclass on Thursday August 30, Saturday September 1 and Tuesday September 4. There are still slots available for August 30 and the 31st will open if we fill up the 30th. So sign up now! Or come as an observer. It will be really interesting to watch how she will work with the budding singers of today.

 

Ate Rina and me after our Madz concert in the USA, 2007.

 

Ya, I know. I remained a chorister but still an opera singer by heart.

 

~ Touringkitty

No party for Ariababy

Well, technically, there won’t be a party unlike last year’s McDonald’s birthday bash, which she truly enjoyed. But I figured, I can still give her a simple party at home.

So this weekend (and hope this colds don’t progress), I will attempt to DIY party decorations at home, put up the same tarpaulin we used last year (good thing I didn’t put any number or date, so we can use it like forever!), and cook Aria’s favorite foods – pansit (which she calls spaghetti), dory fish (which she sooo loves), cookies, and have a special cake made for her. I’ll set the party on the next holiday before her birthday.

I’m set on doing Hello Kitty as theme. The kid adores the cat, haha. So time to order cupcakes from my cousin who prepared the cupcake decorating activity last year. She did Hello Kitty toppers before so this one’s easy peasy for her.

Now should I invite her playground friends? I think so. But this has to be discussed with the husband.

It will be a simple party for the little girl. Something to celebrate two years of her life in this crazy world. It has been fun so far. And we can’t wait for more adventures to come her way.

 

 

~ Touringkitty

For Papa, in memoriam

Wow. It has been ten years, Papa. We still miss you.

Eulogy for Papa Mario
Papa’s Necrological Service
August 10, 2002

In behalf of my mom Luz, and my sister, Myk, we want to thank from the bottom of our hearts, all those people who were there during my father’s stay here on earth.

Who was Mario Mendoza Macanaya when he was still alive?

As a son to his good mother, Enriqueta, he was very close to her to the point he became a spoiled brat.

As a brother, the youngest in a brood of 9, he was always affectionate and would always want to get the attention of everyone else.

As a friend, he was giving and had good public relations, sales and marketing skills. He was named “Don Mar” because of his being very open to other people.

As a father and husband, he was a good father to two children and husband to my mom. But there were events in life we all didn’t wish to happen, that brought tears, sufferings and pains.

Upon his death, on the day of his 47th birthday, the joys, pains, happy and sorrowful events that he would have experienced in this world has ended.

At this point, in behalf of our father, I, my sister, and my mom, would like to ask forgiveness from the people whom he had unintentionally done wrong. We hope and pray that you would forgive him and let us all pray for his soul. Also, I hope that my father has forgiven the shortcomings of other people to him.

We also would like to thank those who helped and extended their sympathy. To my dearest titos/titas/cousins, please do not shut your door on the three of us that my father’s passing will make us closer to you more than ever.

Dear God, thank you for giving us Papa Mario.

To Papa, thank you for all those memories. You know that we’ll always love you, the three of us, I know this is God’s will and I know that you’re happy and blessed, more blessed than any of us here on earth. I hope you’ll always watch over us. I’m glad now that you are at rest in God’s loving arms.

Papa, we’ll always love you, forever you’ll be in our hearts and minds – promise.

How I dropped the pump

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                           Breast friend indeed

For the past month, I have totally given up pumping milk for Aria. Not even an ounce of breastmilk can be found in my fridge. I have donated all the frozen milk left as well.

No, I have not yet given up breastfeeding yet. I just dropped the twice daily pump I’ve been religiously doing for the past year and a half. Luckily for me and for Aria that I can go home for lunch to have her nurse. And when she’s asleep, that’s the only time I pump, which has not happened for the past month.

Aria gets to enjoy all the breast milk she wants when we’re together. And when we’re not, she takes fresh milk, and all the yummy food she sees. She’s a happy eater, knowing what to appreciate, what not to eat (she isn’t a fan of chocolates and sodas, even sweet juices, thankfully!), but she so loves yogurt, eggs, bread, fresh fruits like apples, bananas, papaya, veggies, chicken. She drinks a lot of water, as well as yogurt drinks and fresh milk in brick packs.

She isn’t showing any signs of weaning, though. She stays as much on my breast as she can. And has now added some more tricks while breastfeeding. More on that on another post.

But I’m prepared to pump, still, if ever we’ll be separated for more than seven hours. That was my limit back then, and am still setting the same limit if it happens. There were days that she wasn’t able to nurse at all for 12 hours because of work, but I make sure of my schedule ahead of time so I could leave her some while I’m away.

I was supposed to pack away completely my pump kit, but decided not to, maybe for another year. It’s just on standby on a plastic box if ever the need to use it arises.

Who helped me in pumping? My Pigeon Manual Breast Pump, which was a gift from my husband’s officemates for my baby shower two years ago. It was the most used item on my newborn essentials, I must say.

I borrowed a Medela single electric pump from a friend, but found the manual more effective in draining my breast. More hard work but better performance. Besides, the electric pump is noisy and I can’t use it when Aria’s sleeping. 

So here’s a tribute to my dear pump, who has served me long and well. I know I’ll use you again, like tomorrow, when I have to stay longer at work, have planned to pump and have the milk picked up for dear daughter.

 

~ Touringkitty

Horses on stick

Carousels are what I mean, silly minds!

Aria shrieks every time she sees carousels. Simple joys for a simple kulit kid like ours. Let the pictures take you to the carousels she has experienced so far:

At Market! Market!
At Mall of Asia.

This is where she first rode the carousel before she turned a year old, with her Dad. Undocumented, because they were alone at that time.

I had another picture, taken at Rockwell, but have to find it first.

And when she quite misses it, she does this at home:

Heart. Attack.
And loads of laughter!

It’s her Dad, by the way, forced by Aria to face down so she could ride the “tigig-tigig” and go up and down!

It’s more fun with Aria at our Schatzihaus. She has indeed become the light of this 29 sqm condo unit and of our lives as well.

~ Touringkitty